EPISODE: 10,396
DIRECTED BY: Roger Inman
TAPE DATE: 8/9/06
WRITTEN BY: James E. Reilly

Jack and Jennifer fans are treated to some funs scenes from this sleuthing reporter duo; Chelsea cried wolf too often and the sheep aren't buying it this time; Belle and Mimi come to an understanding..sort of.

THE LOFT
Mimi and Shawn smooch on the couch and plan to get more serious when someone knocks on the door. They both yell NO..but of course it's Belle with Claire, needing help with Claire (move, people, move). Claire wouldn't go to sleep and Philip's at the press conference, so she asks Shawn to help with her. Shawn takes her and she doesn't stop fussing that much when the phone rings. Mimi asks Shawn to get it (to get him off the couch with Belle and Claire) and while she gets something for Claire to drink. It's Philip calling to let Shawn know they had a suspect in the mysterious lab file found in his room and it's Chelsea.
After Shawn's left, Mimi tells Belle she didn't appreciate her and Claire coming over after all that's happened. Belle agrees now that it was insensitive, but they are Claire's Godparents and said they wanted to spend time with her. The only reason Mimi could still be upset is if she believed maybe Claire was Shawn's daughter. Mimi says only if she believes in emmaculate conception and Belle jokes people have called her a saint, but she's far from it. Mimi tells her she's not a jerk either and to rock her daughter to sleep instead of coming to her husband all the time. She then explains, in a kinder mode, how hard this is on her and Shawn as well and she's asking Belle to give them a chance. Mimi tells them that in a few months she and Shawn will have a family, what's it going to be like then? Belle understands and apologizes. They both call each other best friends and wouldn't want to hurt each other.

COP SHOP
Philip and Max argue about Chelsea. Max defending her and Philip determined to make her pay this time.

Bo brings Chelsea in for “questioning”. He tells her about finding her fingerprints all over the file and threatens to put her away himself. Frankie walks in saying over his dead body. Bo's glad Frankie's there as she needs a lawyer, again. He gives them five minutes alone to talk. Chelsea admits to putting the file in Shawn's room, but not for the reason they all think. Bo warns Max that Chelsea is trouble.

Shawn arrives at the cop shop, angry Bo didn't call him first and thanking Philip for doing so. He tells them he told Belle and Mimi he was going for some fresh air and didn't tell them where he was really going and why. He and Philip both want to see Chelsea pay and refuse to leave until they get an explanation from her. Chelsea and Frankie step out of Bo's office and Shawn tells her they want to see her go away for a very very long time. We return to Shawn's shouting at Chelsea. No one can stop him until Max finally punches Shawn (come on cop daddy..take control, when will Salem PD get realistic where there are public areas and NON-public areas???) Oh paleeze, one of the unformed officers leaves the room as he glances nervously watching the action as Frankie and Bo have a hold on Max and Shawn. Chelsea finally tells them she didn't do anything to the file or mess with the embryos. She says she did plant the file in Shawn's room, but that's all she did. Shawn asks her if she's telling him that his DNA might match Claires. Bo tells them that Chelsea's fingerprints were the only ones found inside the file. She tells them how she found the file and thought she was doing a good deed by leaving the file for him to find, saying they all know that he still loves Belle. Philip storms off after he threatens to take Chelsea to civil court if nothing else and Shawn stares at Chelsea, saying for her never to refer to him as her “brother” ever again, that she is nothing to him. Chelsea asks to speak alone with Max before Bo takes her statement and he says they can use his office (and Abe's, Roman's, whoever's there that day). In tears, Chelsea asks Max to believe her, but he tells her it's over between them and leaves.

JACK AND JENNIFER walk into the newspaper office as Jack fondly remembers his old reporter days, even hugging his lamp, LOL. After sitting in his old chair, he wonders who the picture of the man is on his desk and Jennifer fills him in that he was replaced after he died and that's one of his replacement's pictures. Tossing the photo in the trash and agreeing Jennifer can be his partner again, she says it's too soon health wise for him to run solo. He calls Harold who's now the editor after his father died. (Amazing how no one minded them making themselves at home..I don't think either of them have worked there in years.) After the commercial we find Jack and Jennifer at home at the two desks surfing the net and researching the gun (so much for HR, paperwork, etc.) Jack searched the “gun book” for the gun and Jennifer tells him it's not the same gun as he found. He argues about how stubborn she is and mocks how she got the job at the paper. He lets on he hired her because he was in love with her from the moment he saw her, not because of her talent. He tells her she pressured him into kissing her as we're treated to a VERY old flashback of her walking into his bedroom demanding to talk about their feelings for each other. She stops him from leaving by locking his door. He remembers how long she tried to marry him and she can't believe how she stayed with him for all these years. Unless he admits he's wrong, she's going to walk out the door right now and never come back. He does so and they get back to work.

Jennifer and Jack rationalize that Deep Throat might have been the killer, how else would he have the gun. Jack notices his Ferraro Award on Mary Sue's desk and she explains it hurt too much to have it at home. We also learn she gave his old santa suit to the Horton Foundation (Uncle Mickey loves it she says). He mentions how sentimental she is, but she explains that's why she had to get rid of them after he died for the third time, it hurt too much. He apologizes and she's anxious to get back to work. They remember how Deep Throat mentioned they might both be killed. He has an idea how to get the gun identified and tells her to come with him as they head to the elevator.

SAL'S PAWN SHOP
J&J arrive at the pawn shop and the owner Salvador Bandino, greets Jack, happy he's alive again, LOL. We learn Sal knew Jack's biological dad Duke in San Quentin. Jack asks him to ID the gun and will pay him for the help, saying (in raspy Vito Corleone voice) he'll make him an offer he can't refuse as Jennifer turns and rolls her eyes. Sal says the gun is a great one and not made any more. He wishes he could get his hands on one like it (uh, being an ex con, isn't that a no no?) Sal takes the picture in the back room and J&J explore the items in the pawn shop. They find an old typewriter and Jack jokes about how Vern use to have one a long time ago and it reminds him of an old Cary Grant movie, saying they don't make them like that anymore. Jennifer asks if he means the typewriter or the old movies and he says..both. We see J&J in B&W like they're in the old Cary Grant/Rosalind Russell movie “His Girl Friday” movie as Jack, talking like Cary Grant, calls Jennifer Mrs. Horton Deveraux. Sal walks in wearing the old fashioned striped prison outfit holding a gun to Jennifer's head asking for money. Jack informs him that this is a newspaper office, not a bank and Jennifer suggests Jack show him where the bank is on the city map. Jack does so and Jennifer knocks Sal over the head as they argue who will get credit for the story. Back to present, Sal rubs his fingers wanting $$ for the info before telling them anything. He takes Jack's whole wad of bills (he's been out of practice and should know better than to show all his money). Sal gives them a list of the gun's owners. They look at the list and recognize a name. Both shocked, they can't believe it and say if it's true, this town is in for the shock of it's life...freeze frame..and the previews roll....

Jack and Jennifer are grabbed and bags put over their heads as they kick and scream...

Billie: “He is so angry with her.”

Chelsea to Bo: “What if Shawn is really Claire's father?”Bo: “There's only one way to find out.”

Shawn: “Can I really be Claire's father?”

Mimi (to herself I think): “He's going to take that DNA test. The DNA test will reveal the truth. And of course then he'll leave me.”

as the credits roll..
Linda